Jason Gallian, the former England batsman, believes that Bermuda has an abundance of raw cricketing talent that could flourish if nurtured in a more competitive environment.

Gallian visited Bermuda last week to attend the International Schools Fair at The Fairmont Southampton, speaking to prospective players and parents interested in learning more about Felsted School in England, where he works as the director of cricket.

Felsted, a top independent boarding and day school in Essex, offers sport scholarships and bursaries to international students if they meet certain criteria, both on and off the pitch.

The 43-year-old, who played three Test matches as an opening batsman in 1995, also took the opportunity to cast his eye over some of the Island’s most promising boys and girls at two masterclass net sessions at the Berkeley Institute.

Gallian, who played for Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Essex during a distinguished county career, said that he had been impressed with the enthusiasm of the youngsters and their natural gifts for the game.

“There are some good young cricketers in Bermuda and there were definitely a few who caught the eye,” said Gallian, who was born in Sydney, Australia.

“I can see why some English schools have already put the process in place, with a number of young Bermudian boys already playing in the English school system and doing pretty well.

“There’s definitely talent in Bermuda; it’s really raw talent but you tell that if you took them off the Island and exposed them to schoolboy and league cricket in England they would become better players. I really enjoyed my week in Bermuda. The boys and girls I saw were very engaging and there’s some great potential on the Island.”

While Gallian believed that he had seen players with sufficient ability to be considered for partial scholarships, he said that there were financial and academic factors to be considered, which complicated matters.

“Felsted School offers sports scholarships and there was a lot of interest at last year’s International Sports Fair [in Bermuda] from parents whose children play cricket,” Gallian said.

“I came to Bermuda this year to assess some of these children with a view to potentially awarding some scholarships.

“However, awarding scholarships is a difficult one; not only do they need to be pretty decent cricketers, but they also have to meet the academic criteria. Then there’s the financial implications because although we award scholarships, they’re of a certain percentage.

“Not only is there the school fee, there’s the flights and finding guardians — all those kinds of things.”

Gallian, who intends on remaining in contact with the Bermuda Cricket Board and the parents of those players who impressed him, believes that it’s important for the future of Bermuda cricket to have a slew of players honing their skills overseas.

“I’ve assessed them as cricketers and they have been tested already academically, so it’s about making some decisions and keeping the parents and the BCB in touch with what [Felsted] would like to do,” he said.

“All we were trying to do is give someone an opportunity to come to Felsted, play some good cricket, and hopefully develop their game and maybe push them into pathways to play at the higher level.

“Hopefully these players would then come back to the Island as better cricketers and that can only help Bermuda in their ICC hopes.”

Since retiring from professional cricket in 2009, Gallian, who once angrily threw Nottinghamshire team-mate Kevin Pietersen’s cricket bat off the Trent Bridge balcony, has immersed himself in life at Felsted.

“When I finished at Essex, I moved straight into working at Felsted,” he said. “I’ve got myself pretty busy there and I really enjoy it.

“It’s been a really good transition from being a professional cricketer. I now have the opportunity to pass on my experience to young players, and if they have ambitions to play professionally, I can hopefully help them with that as well.”